Wood shavings commonly are produced for use in animal bedding, mulch mixtures, starting fuels, and other products where wood shavings are desirable. Additionally, large landfills sometimes do not permit the dumping of large pieces of wood stock therein. As a result, large pieces of wood stock sometimes must be cut into smaller shavings for landfill dumping.
Typically, machines for producing wood shavings have a rotatable cutting roll with cutting knives positioned on the periphery thereof for engaging wood stock advanced thereto along a predetermined path of travel by rotatable feed rolls. If the rate of advance of the wood stock is not properly controlled, it may engage the smooth periphery at the cutting roll. This may create charring of the wood.
The rate at which the wood stock is advanced to the cutting roll must be synchronized with the speed of the cutting roll. If the wood stock is advanced too rapidly, its leading end portion will engage smooth surface portions of the cutting roll and become charred by the frictional heat generated as a result of such engagement. Too rapid advancement may also result in the cutting roll compressing and fracturing the wood stock, and violently propelling broken fragments of it. The foregoing undesirable results can ensue even when the rotational speeds of the cutting and feed rolls are properly synchronized, if significant slippage occurs between the wood stock and the feed rolls, or if terminal sections of the wood stock is not prevented from being moved rapidly forward by the cutting roll.